GIMP
Jan 3, 2014 14:08:35 #
Is anyone using, or has used, GIMP as a photo editing program? It appears that it is an alternative to PS Elements and Lightroom. My idea is, would this be a good program to learn photo editing (since it's free) before laying down the bucks for either of the two above.
Please understand that I'm not a professional or a hobbyist. I like taking pictures and after spending the past month or so looking at all the great shots posted here, I'm wondering if I can bring my photos up a notch or two.
My "go to" camera right now is the SX260 and I'm slowly learning the power of my EOS-M.
Any insight/suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!
Thanks.
PoppaT
Please understand that I'm not a professional or a hobbyist. I like taking pictures and after spending the past month or so looking at all the great shots posted here, I'm wondering if I can bring my photos up a notch or two.
My "go to" camera right now is the SX260 and I'm slowly learning the power of my EOS-M.
Any insight/suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!
Thanks.
PoppaT
Jan 3, 2014 14:21:30 #
Jan 3, 2014 14:25:50 #
PoppaT wrote:
Is anyone using, or has used, GIMP as a photo edit... (show quote)
IMHO, if you learn GIMP you probably don't need anything else, played with it a couple of times, still using PSP, bit of a learning curve, Bob.
Jan 3, 2014 14:29:38 #
daf40
Loc: Mesa, AZ
Gimp is a great program, but it is very complex, with most of the features offered by Photoshop Elements-- along with a very large learning curve. If you're new to photo editing, you might try a more basic program, such as Faststone (also free). This program has substantial capabilities that will give you a "taste" of photo editing, but with a very fast learning curve.
Jan 3, 2014 15:24:26 #
I used Gimp for a while, but found it was not very user friendly. I now use (not necessarily together) Picasa 3, FastStone, & PhotoScape. All are free, easy to use, & do a good job. :-)
Jan 3, 2014 15:26:12 #
There/s a great tutorial on this forum, created by Sharky. It is found in 'SEARCH' at the top of this page in blue print. Type in something like 'easy gimp tutorial' and look for Sharky
Jan 3, 2014 15:36:28 #
Jan 3, 2014 15:37:42 #
I checked out Faststone but it's a PC program. I failed to mention in my original post that I'm a Mac user.
daf40 wrote:
Gimp is a great program, but it is very complex, with most of the features offered by Photoshop Elements-- along with a very large learning curve. If you're new to photo editing, you might try a more basic program, such as Faststone (also free). This program has substantial capabilities that will give you a "taste" of photo editing, but with a very fast learning curve.
Jan 3, 2014 15:38:35 #
Found it and bookmarked it. I'll go through it later on this weekend. Thanks for the input!!
tramsey wrote:
There/s a great tutorial on this forum, created by Sharky. It is found in 'SEARCH' at the top of this page in blue print. Type in something like 'easy gimp tutorial' and look for Sharky
Jan 3, 2014 16:10:48 #
amehta
Loc: Boston
PoppaT wrote:
Is anyone using, or has used, GIMP as a photo edit... (show quote)
While post processing is a useful tool, if your pictures aren't as good as you want them to be, I would suggest spending more time learning about photography and your camera rather than an editing tool. That can come later.
Jan 4, 2014 00:22:39 #
tramsey wrote:
There/s a great tutorial on this forum, created by Sharky. It is found in 'SEARCH' at the top of this page in blue print. Type in something like 'easy gimp tutorial' and look for Sharky
Must be someone else; Sharky has one post to Chit-Chat. Can you give some more ideas how to find it? Thanks.
Jan 4, 2014 06:46:02 #
PoppaT wrote:
Is anyone using, or has used, GIMP as a photo edit... (show quote)
The best free program for you would be Google's Picasa. I have used it for years and it covers all the basic stuff an amateur would need. It is "non-destructive", whatever you do in Picasa all your images will still be safe in you "My Pictures" folder.
Try it free from the Google site, not from a 3rd party. Read and follow the instructions as you load it and it will not cause you any problems.
If you do not like it just uninstall it and all your images will still be where they started off.
Jan 4, 2014 07:52:39 #
The fact that something like GIMP is available for free is almost unbelievable but my two cent is that you will find yourself spending more time learning gimp than you will learning photography.
I have used gimp to accomplish some pretty complicated photo editing work however I always used a tutorial to step me through what I was doing. I never really learned it. It is very powerful and very complex. It is like Photoshop without the polish. It is not photography specific. By that I mean that it wasn't designed specifically for photo editing. Many of the "beginning gimp" tutorials start with things like making logos and other graphics exercises.
I finally gave in and bought lightroom, learned how to use it in a couple of days and the only times I've used gimp since then have been if I wanted to do something involving multiple layers.
I have used gimp to accomplish some pretty complicated photo editing work however I always used a tutorial to step me through what I was doing. I never really learned it. It is very powerful and very complex. It is like Photoshop without the polish. It is not photography specific. By that I mean that it wasn't designed specifically for photo editing. Many of the "beginning gimp" tutorials start with things like making logos and other graphics exercises.
I finally gave in and bought lightroom, learned how to use it in a couple of days and the only times I've used gimp since then have been if I wanted to do something involving multiple layers.
Jan 4, 2014 08:53:17 #
I've been using GIMP for about 7 years. I use it at least twice a week. It takes a while to learn it, but I think it's worth it.
It's only one of the tools I use; since I also use several other programs.
It's only one of the tools I use; since I also use several other programs.
Jan 4, 2014 09:44:09 #
I forgot all about Picasa. I used it years ago before Google absorbed it and liked it when I did use it. I'll have to check it out again.
Thanks for the memory refresh!!
PoppaT
Thanks for the memory refresh!!
PoppaT
artistwally wrote:
The best free program for you would be Google's Pi... (show quote)
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